Millions of packages per year are handled and shipped by United Parcel Service, Federal Express, and many other smaller courier and delivery services. These packages originate with federal, state, and local governments as well as private businesses of all sizes. In many instances, the charges by the carriers to their customers are based on the so-called “dim-weight factor” or “dimensional weight factor” (DWF) of the article being shipped, a fictitious dimension based on length (L) times width (W) times height (H) in inches divided by a standard agency or association-recognized divisor or conversion factor, commonly 139 (L×W×H)/139) for international shipments and 166 (L×W×H)/166) for domestic U.S. shipments. The “139” and “166” divisors or conversion factors have been recognized and adopted by the International Air Transport Association (I.A.T.A.). Even if an object or package is of irregular configuration, the “dim weight,” using the longest measurement each of length, width, and height, is still utilized for billing purposes. The volume computed by multiplication of object length, times width, times height may hereinafter be termed the “cubic volume,” “spatial volume,” or simply the “cube” of the object.
The measurements of the articles shipped are also critical so that the carrier can compute volume-based shipping charges; accurately determine the number of containers, trucks, trailers, or other vehicles required to transport goods to their destinations; and handlers of goods can optimize the use of space in retail as well as warehouse/distribution-center facilities. In addition, article weight and measurements may also be used to determine and predict weight and balance for transport vehicles and aircraft and to dictate the loading sequence for objects by weight and dimensions for maximum safety and efficiency. If orders of any items are to be packed into boxes, knowledge of object weight and dimensions is useful for determining box size, durability, packing sequence and product orientation.
Quantronix, Inc., Assignee of Applicants' invention as described and claimed herein, has developed and commercialized a number of different dimensioning systems for a wide variety of applications in commerce and industry. However, there remains a need for compact, relatively inexpensive dimensioning apparatuses for relatively low-volume applications, such as retail outlets and packaging stores, as well as other small businesses that employ UPS, FedEx and other courier services for shipping small volumes (e.g., under fifty pounds), of packages daily.
It has been proposed to employ touchscreen technology to dimension envelopes for mailing via the United States Postal Service (USPS), as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0123970. However, the apparatus described employs a substantially vertical, two-dimensional touchscreen of a mail kiosk, which is costly and consumes an inordinate amount of space, as well as being unsuitable for measurement of three-dimensional objects, such as cuboidal packages shipped by courier.